Chapter #7 Understanding Output

What Is Output ?

• Output is data that has been processed into a useful form.
• An output device is any type of hardware component that conveys information to one or more people.

Display Devices

• A display device visually conveys text, graphics, and video information.
• A monitor is packaged as a separate peripheral.

1. LCD monitor
2. Widescreen

• Liquid crystal display (LCD) uses a liquid compound to present information on a display device.

1. Active-matrix display
2. Passive-matrix display

• The quality of an LCD monitor or LCD screen depends primarily on :

1. Resolution
2. Response time
3. Brightness
4. Dot pitch
5. Contrast ratio

• Resolution is the number of horizontal and vertical pixels in a display device - A higher resolution uses a grater number of pixels.
• The graphics processing unit (GPU) controls the manipulation and display of graphics and a display device.
• LCD monitors use a digital signal and should lug into a DVI port, an HDMI port, or a Display Port.
• Plasma monitors are display devices that use gas plasma technology and offer screen sizes up to 150 inches.
• Televisions also are a good output device - Require a converter if you are connecting your computer to an analog television.
• Digital television (DTV) offers a crisper, higher-quality output.
• HDTV is the most advanced form of digital television.
• A CRT monitor is a desktop monitor that contains a cathode-ray tube - Have a much larger footprint than do LCD monitors.

Printers

• A printer produces text and graphics on a physical medium :

1. Printed information is called a hard copy, or printout.
2. Landscape or portrait orientation.

• A nonimpact printer forms characters and graphics on a piece of paper without actually striking the paper.

1. Ink-jet printers
2. Photo printers
3. Laser printers
4. Thermal printers
5. Mobile printers
6. Label and postage printers
7. Plotters
8. Large-format printers

• An ink-jet printer forms characters and graphics by spraying tiny drops of liquid ink into a piece of paper :

1. Color or black-and-white
2. Printers with a higher dpi (dots per inch) produce a higher quality output

• A photo printer produces color photo-lab-quality pictures
• Most use ink-jet technology
• PictBridge allows you to print photos directly from a digital camera
• Print from a memory card and preview photos on a built-in LCD screen
• Laser printer

1. High-speed
2. Black-and-white
3. High-quality
4. Color

• A multi-function peripheral (MFP) is a single device that prints, scans, copies, and in some cases, faxes - sometimes called an all-in-one device
• A thermal printer generates images by pushing electrically heated pins against the heat-sensitive paper.

1. Thermal wax-transfer printer
2. Dye-sublimation printer

• A mobile printer is a small, lightweight, battery-powered printer that allows a mobile user to print from a notebook computer, smart phone, or other mobile device.
• A label printer is a small printer that prints on adhesive-type material.
• A postage printer prints postage stamps - Postage also can be printed on other types of printers.
• Plotters are used to produce high-quality drawings.
• Large-format printers create photo-realistic quality color prints on a larger scale.
• Impact printers form characters and graphics on a piece of paper by striking a mechanism against an inked ribbon that physically contacts the paper.

1. Dot-matrix printer
2. Line printer

• A dot-matrix printer produces printed images when tiny wire pins on a print head mechanism strike an inked ribbon.
• A line printer prints an entire line at a time.

Speakers, Headphones, and Earbuds

• An audio output device produces music, speech, or other sounds.
• Most computer users attach speakers to their computers to :

1. Generate higher-quality sounds for playing games
2. Interact with multimedia presentations
3. Listen to music
4. View movies

• Headphones are speakers that cover or are placed outside of the ear
• Earbuds (also called earphones) rest inside the ear canal.
• Some speakers are specifically designed to play audio from a portable media player - Wireless speakers
• Voice output occurs when you hear a person's voice or when the computer talks to you through the speakers.

1. Some Web sites dedicate themselves to providing voice output
2. Often works with voice input
3. VoIP uses voice output and voice input

Other Output Devices

• Other output devices are available for specific uses and application 

1. Data projectors
2. Interactive whiteboards
3. Force-feedback game controllers
4. Tactile output

• A data projector is a device that takes the text and images displaying on a computer screen and projects them on a larger screen.

1. LCD projector
2. Digital light processing (DLP) projector

• An interview whiteboard is a touch-sensitive device, resembling a dry-erase board, that displays the image on a connected computer screen.
• Force-feedback sends resistance to the device in response too actions of user.
• Tactile output provides the user with a physical response from the device.